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NRL confirm official competition restart date

Canterbury's Renouf To'omaga is pictured in round two of the 2020 NRL season.
The NRL have confirmed that games will go ahead on the league's planned restart date of May 28, with teams to be permitted to train from May 4. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)

The NRL has confirmed competition will resume on May 28, with clubs to resume training on May 4.

The league had already indicated they were planning to restart competition on the 28th, but Wednesday night’s news was the first confirmation games would be played for points since the competition was suspended in March.

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The Project Apollo committee has also decided premiership points from the first two rounds will be retained.

There is no confirmation yet regarding travel arrangements for the New Zealand Warriors, who will be required to quarantine for 14 days upon arriving in Australia.

ARL Commissioner Wayne Pearce confirmed teams would have a three-week pre-season before the competition resumed, ahead of a meeting with clubs on Wednesday.

"We reaffirmed that May 28 is the starting date for the competition, we also confirmed that teams will be able to train from May 4," Pearce said.

“What we achieved today was a lot more clarity around the medical process and what those protocols are.

“What was also confirmed that the competition points that had been earned in the first two rounds will carry over to the extended competition.

“Everyone is supportive of what we're doing. Everyone is unified into getting back on the field.

“We feel like we owe it to not just the players and coaches, but the thousands of staff members at various clubs and associated industries that are out on the unemployment lines too.”

NRL to work through New Zealand Warriors quarantine details

Clubs had previously agreed not to resume to training until the Warriors were able to do so, with the club still stuck in lockdown in New Zealand.

Lockdown measures will ease across the Tasman next week, but the club are still yet to gain a travel exemption to arrive in Australia.

Players and staff are also likely to have to remain in quarantine for two weeks once landing, however there is some chance the NRL could push for them to be able to train.

Effectively that would be the only way the Warriors could resume training at the same time as other clubs.

“We're working through all those details, we haven't finalised that yet,” Pearce said.

“We are working with the government authorities to get them over here, get them through a quarantine period and have them ready with the other teams for the start of the competition.”

The full structure of the competition also remains up in the air, with discussions between the NRL, Nine and Foxtel still ongoing.

Pearce was unable to confirm on Wednesday when the grand final was scheduled and whether State of Origin will be played during or after the club competition.

There remains a school of thought that Origin could be pushed back to as late as possible in the regular season, which would allow for matches to be caught up if required.

Meanwhile, Pearce also revealed the NRL are hoping interstate players will not have to relocate and set up camp in NSW.

At this stage, none of the three Queensland-based clubs will be able to travel back and forth across the border while the Victorian government's position is unclear.

“As of today, those teams would have to come into camp in NSW,” Pearce said.

“But the landscape is changing pretty quickly. The government authorities are very supportive of what we are looking to do.

“Because we actually are looking to hold ourselves to a very high standard. It will certainly exceed what community expectations are.”

With AAP